Today the 2015 Mending Mads Silent Auction to benefit RAINN.org opened.
What is Mending Mads?
Madalaina “Mads” Bonvillian is the heroine in my second book, A Scarlet Fury. She survives a sexual assault before the book even starts and begins the healing process. I worked hard to portray Mads authentically; her fear, anger, and sadness went beyond textbook symptoms. Living, breathing survivors of assault were kind enough to help me navigate the mental and emotional states of Mads. In my mind I saw Mads as a mirror, shattered into splinters and slowly put together again by the people who loved her. 
Why did I decide to do the silent auction?
To help. To give back. Writing A Scarlet Fury was exhausting and I felt like I was beaten after it was done. I was also intensely proud of the finished product. Scarlet was dedicated to all the survivors of abuse, rape, and incest. Mads is a fictional survivor but they’re the real ones. The book belongs to them. It’s a nice gesture, but what does it do? Does it raise awareness, educate the public, or most importantly, help the survivors? Donating to the cause felt like the next step. I started with sales from the book but I wanted to do more. Who could I give the money to and see it do the most good? How would I raise the money? I saw a silent auction for soldiers and a light bulb came on.
Why RAINN.org?
RAINN.org provided me with resources to learn about sexual assault recovery. The information went beyond what I expected to find. They had topics I’d never considered such as triggers in television and how to cope with them. RAINN stands for Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. They are the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. for every dollar donated to them, 92 cents is used to help survivors and educate the public. Worth magazine named RAINN one of “America’s 100 Best Charities”.
RAINN provides two hotlines, one by phone 800.656.HOPE and one on the internet online.rainn.org. There is a text based outreach option you can read about HERE. A Department of Defense hotline, online and a phone number, is also available. This is here for the men and women in the military.
Explore Prevention Through Education
Want to know where your donation goes? It’s amazing what a few dollars can do and how quickly it adds up
Why is it important?
Mads’ recovery is the way I wish all survivors were treated; love, compassion, understanding, and help. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Every two minutes someone in the United States is assaulted. The statistics paint a frightening picture of the roadblocks put before survivors.
1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).
17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.
3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.
- From 1995-2010, 9% of rape and sexual assault victims were male.
- 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape.
15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12
93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.6
- 34.2% of attackers were family members.
- 58.7% were acquaintances.
- Only 7% of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim
Victims of sexual assault are:
3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.
Pregnancies Resulting from Rape
In 2012, 346,830 women were raped. According to medical reports, the incidence of pregnancy for one-time unprotected sexual intercourse is 5%. By applying the pregnancy rate to 346,830 female survivors, RAINN estimates that there were 17,342 pregnancies as a result of rape in 2012.
The Mending Mads Silent Auction aims to help take a stand against sexual violence. An amazing group of authors and vendors have donated items for bidding. Signed books, ebooks, audiobooks, swag, soap, lip balm, sugar scrubs, cookies, and more are available!
Bridget Blackwood 